Orange County: Contracting opportunities
at one of the nation's 'largest and most
aggressive' school building programs
Florida Construction News staff writer
The Orange County School Board
has been updated by Orange County
Public Schools (OCPS) officials about
the district’s capital program, which
they say is one of the nation’s largest
and most aggressive school building
programs. At a March 29 board meeting in
Orlando, staff outlined some high-
lights about the extensive works
planned and in progress:
OCPS has 32 relief, replacement
or renovation projects in planning,
design or construction for comple-
tion from 2018 to 2020, with a total
budget of $726.8 million.

For the 2018-19 school year, 11
projects are under construction with
a budget of $276.8 million - two K-8
schools and nine elementary
schools. Audubon Park School is a
relief school, Dover Shores Elemen-
tary is a comprehensive
renovation/replacement, and nine
schools are being replaced: Cypress
Park/Durrance ES, Frangus ES,
Hungerford ES, Hidden Oaks ES, Hill-
crest ES, Lake Como School, Maxey
ES, Pine Hills ES and Union Park ES.

For the 2019-20 school year, 12
projects have been designed and are
about to begin construction with a
total budget of $277.6 million. They
include six elementary schools, one
K-8, two middle schools, two high
school auditoriums and one trans-
portation facility.

That includes relief elementary
schools 25-E-SW-4 and 49-E-W-4 as
well as relief middle school 37-M-
SW-4, replacements of the Boone
and Colonial high school auditori-
ums, Deerwood Elementary, a K-8
merging Pershing and Pine Castle el-
ementaries and the Pine Hills Trans-
portation Center, as well as
comprehensive renovation of Corner
Lake Middle, Lake George ES, Lake
Gem ES and Sunrise ES.

12 – SPRING 2018 — Florida Construction News
For the 2020 school year, nine
projects are in the planning phase,
including five elementary schools,
one middle school, one high school
gymnasium, one ESE facility and one
alternative school, with a total
budget of $172.4 million.

The district is projecting spending
about $302.6 million through FY
2019-20 on capital renewal projects
to replace systems within existing
schools, OCSB says. As well:
Functional equity projects at eight
middle schools are set to begin pre-
planning in 2019;
The final two schools targeted in
the district’s Unitary Status Agree-
ment will be completed in August;
The final schools on the 2003
Sales Tax list of 136 are projected to
be complete in 2022;
A “curb appeal” program targeted
the exterior look of 23 schools this
year; and
Ten school sites are being consid-
ered for repurposing between 2018
and 2021.

How to win OCPS work
Florida Construction News staff writer
OCPS Procurement Services has a public portal for contractors and
suppliers to register and receive electronic email notifications of upcom-
ing opportunities.

The school district says it uses VendorLink, an online registration serv-
ice that “allows vendors to provide basic information about their busi-
ness and to select specific commodity codes for the goods and services
they provide.”
OCPS indicates there is a learning curve, with information on how to
register and an online user manual, observing that users should “allow
plenty of lead time when using the system for the first time.”
You can send email inquiries to support@vendorlink.com or phone
(407) 222-1885 for more information.